Universally mountable lighting fixture



July 10, 1962 E. D. TILLSON ETAL 3,043,

UNIVERSALLY MOUNTABLE LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Oct. 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F INVENTORS,

July 10, 1962 E. o. TILLSON ETAL UNIVERSALLY MOUNTABLE LIGHTING FIXTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 9, 1959 5/50 ZZZZso BYL iZ W United States Patent 3,043,951 Y UNIVERSALLY MOUNTABLE LIGHTING FIXTURE Edwin D. Tillson, Evanston, and Edward J. Krok, Chicago, Ill., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Curtis- Electro Lighting, Inc., Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 9,1959, Ser. No. 845,369 1 Claim. (Cl. 240--51.11)

Our invention relates to a lighting fixture which may be mounted in any one of the three current mediums, namely (1) attached to the ceiling; (2) suspended trom the ceiling by suitable means; and (3) held within a recess in the ceiling.

Frequently, an architect will specify in plans a certain type of fixture mounting. For instance, an architect will specify that the light fixtures be suspended by rods trom the ceiling. Ordinarily such specification requires lighting fixtures of a certain shape and design. Then the person for whom the plans were made decides that he would rather have the lighting fixtures directly attached to the ceiling. This usually requires a different shape and design of lighting fixtures. If a further change is made to lighting fixtures held within a recess in the ceiling, still another shape and design of lighting fixtures would be required. This is because the three different modes of mounting require different attaching conditions, and have to avoid difierent obstructions. It is among the objects of our invention to solve the foregoing problems, and provide a lighting unit which is adapted to be mounted by any one of the three mediums-Le, (1) direct to the ceiling, (2) suspended from the ceiling, (3) held by a recess in the ceiling.

Heretofore there has been such a lack of standardization in the industry that a lighting fixture designed for one mode of attachment could not be used it this mode were later changed. An object of our invention is to provide a single lighting fixture adapted for multiple attachment by the three current mediums. V,

Another object of our invention is to save the expense of discarding lighting fixtures originally specified and buying additional ones for a new attachment means, as well as the expense of removing obstructions or remodeling the ceiling or walls to accommodate the new lighting fixtures.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a lighting fixture of desired shallowness and yet of sufiicient depth to house the necessary ballast.

Our invention also comprises such other objects, ad-

vantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear,

and which are inherently possessed by our invention.

While we have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of our invention, yet it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of our fixture mounted in suspended position; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of our fixture mounted in a recess; FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the same directly mounted to the ceiling; FIG. 4 is an end view of our fixture mounted in a recess; FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view broken away to show the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view broken away of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 7 is an end sectional View; FIG. 8 is a broken bottom plan view at one end; FIG. 9 is a side elevational view; and FIG. 10 is an electrical wiring diagram of applicants fixture.

The embodiment selected to illustrate our invention comprises a top metal reflector 10 having a flat top por- "ice I 2 tion 11 and a pair of opposite diagonally downwardly and outwardly extending side portions 12. At each open end of reflector 110 a metal end plate '13 is provided having an inwardly bent surrounding flange 14.

Flange 14 has a top portion 15 and a pair of opposite diagonally downwardly and outwardly extending side portions 16 bearing against, coextensive with and attached by suitable welding to the undersurface of top portion 11 and the inner surfaces of side portions 12, respectively.

Each end plate 13, with its flange 14, has a pair of opposite right angled wing portions 17 extending outwardly from the lower ends of said portions 16, then downwardly and then inwardly to form bottom ledge 18'.

To the inner surface of each end plate 13 is attached a socket channel 119 supporting a pair of spaced sockets 20 to removably receive the ends of fluorescent light tubes 21. These tubes 21 extend inwardly to sockets 22 in end wall 23 ot jcentral housing 24.

Wireway 25 is V-shaped and extends substantially parallel to and between tubes 21 and from one end plate 13 through central housing 24 to the opposite end plate 13. Wireway 25 acts as a protector and guide for wires 42 leading through openings to sockets 20 and 22 onboth sides of central housing 24 and to the transformers 27 housed in central housing 24 and to an electrical source of supply. The central housing is of suflicient size to accommodate and house ballast 27 without substantially enlarging the over all depth of the lighting fixture.

On the other end of central housing 24 is another wall 23 supporting sockets 22 to receive the inner ends of another pair of fluorescent tubes leading outwardly to sockets 20 in socket channel 19 in the opposite end plate 13.

Attached to central housing 24 is cover plate 28, having a pair of right angled wing portions 29 conforming in contour to wing portions 17, and also having a floor providing a ledge 30 on the outer side of each center wall 23.

A pair of lens panels 31 are provided. Each lens panel is a one piece item made of plastic or other suitable light transmitting material, and has a transparent prismatic central light directing portion 32 and a pair of integral opposite side portions 33 oct translucent milky white color for light difiusion control providing light of desired low brightness at these locations. Each of side portions 3-3 has a wing portion 34 and a bottom end 35. Bottom ends 35 rest on ledges 18 and 30, and wing portions 34 extend within wing portions 17 and 29. A spring 36 attached to each center wall 23 exerts outer pressure on its lens panel 31 for holding it on the ledges.

When our lighting fixture is mounted in a recess, We

may also employ flanges 26 which are attached to side walls 12 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Our lighting fixtures may be attached direct to a ceiling by screws 37 extending through top 11 into the ceillIl Such screws 37 may also be used to attach a plurality of spaced rods to our lighting fixture for suspending it from the ceiling, the rods being suitably attached to the ceiling.

In some instances, instead of panels 31 with light directing portion 32, we may use opposite side panels 38 of translucent milky white color, each having a wing portion 39 and a pair of spaced fingers 40 to receive and hold bottom honeycomb louvers 41 between them.

In some instances, we may also provide for portion 32 in lens 31 to be in the form of a tilted prism to direct light at an angle to illuminate a vertical surface such as the wall of a room or a blackboard.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A universally mountable lighting fixture comprising a top reflector having a flat top portion and directly from said top portion a pair of opposite side portions extending diagonally downwardly and outwardly therefrom, saidtop reflector having open ends and an open bottom, a pair of end plates attached to said reflector and closing the pen ds of said refl or, ea h o a end P a h v n a it l w porti n a pair of spa e en a wing portions and a connecting bottom ledge, a central housing attached to'said top reflector and having spaced ente walls and space sid wall ea hs d al h v a .i l we p n an enla ged Wing portion simi a in shap o h e o said n pla and a c n n bo Y o n ledge, a pai of sock t mo n ed eac a end plates and said. center walls of said central housing {a pair. of fluorescent light tubes mounted in said sockets and ex ndi g w en an. n plate and a entr l a ing between and resting on the bottom ledge of one of said end plates and on the bottom ledge of one of said side walls of said central housing, and bearing against the inner surfaces of the spaced wing portions of the end plates and the spaced wing portions of the central housing, said fixture adapted by its fiat top for direct or suspended attachment to a ceiling, said flat top also being narrow so as to avoid contact with obstructions and adapted by the spaced wing portions of theend plates and the central housing for mounting in a recess in a ceiling.

References Cited in'the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,476,856 'Geenens July 19', 19.49 2,526,074 Guth Oct. 17, 1950 2,543,713 Yeager Feb. 27, 1951 2,744,716 Zingone May 8, 1956 2,864,939 Bodian et a1. Dec. 16, 1958 2,902,591 Lipscomb .Sept. 1, 195 9 

